Outrage as Egypt plans "farewell intercourse" law

Egyptian husbands will soon be legally allowed to have sex with their dead wives - for up to six hours after their death.

The controversial new law is part of a raft of measures being introduced by the Islamist-dominated parliament.

It will also see the minimum age of marriage lowered to 14 and the ridding of women's rights of getting education and employment.

Egypt's National Council for Women is campaigning against the changes, saying that 'marginalising and undermining the status of women would negatively affect the country's human development'.

Dr Mervat al-Talawi, head of the NCW, wrote to the Egyptian People’s Assembly Speaker Dr Saad al-Katatni addressing her concerns.

Egyptian journalist Amro Abdul Samea reported in the al-Ahram newspaper that Talawi complained about the legislations which are being introduced under 'alleged religious interpretations'.

The subject of a husband having sex with his dead wife arose in May 2011 when Moroccan cleric Zamzami Abdul Bari said marriage remains valid even after death.

He also said that women have the right to have sex with her dead husband, alarabiya.net reported.

It seems the topic, which has sparked outrage, has now been picked up on by Egypt's politicians.

TV anchor Jaber al-Qarmouty slammed the notion of letting a husband have sex with his wife after her death under the so-called 'Farewell Intercourse' draft law.

He said: 'This is very serious. Could the panel that will draft the Egyptian constitution possibly discuss such issues? Did Abdul Samea see by his own eyes the text of the message sent by Talawi to Katatni?

'This is unbelievable. It is a catastrophe to give the husband such a right! Has the Islamic trend reached that far? Is there really a draft law in this regard? Are there people thinking in this manner?'

"In Victorian England, a commoner was not allowed to look directly at the Queen, due to a belief at the time that the poor had the ability to steal thoughts. Science now believes that less than 4% of poor people are able to do this."

There are no such thing as rights, only privileges granted by tyrants. It does not matter what guise these tyrants take -- Gods, Kings, Emperors, Dictators, Presidents, Congresses, Parliaments, Judges, and Juries -- the privileges called rights are doled out and rescinded at the whim of their interpretation of Justice and its unruly stepchild, Law.

OK, HuffPo is stating that they're getting Twitter reports from Egypt that this story is FALSE and is probably a plant from Mubarak loyalists.

There are no such thing as rights, only privileges granted by tyrants. It does not matter what guise these tyrants take -- Gods, Kings, Emperors, Dictators, Presidents, Congresses, Parliaments, Judges, and Juries -- the privileges called rights are doled out and rescinded at the whim of their interpretation of Justice and its unruly stepchild, Law.

"In Victorian England, a commoner was not allowed to look directly at the Queen, due to a belief at the time that the poor had the ability to steal thoughts. Science now believes that less than 4% of poor people are able to do this."

As far as I'm concerned, the dead don't have rights, and that includes the right of consent. Fair play, no need for big gubment to get involved with what I do with my body and the dead body of my wife.

As far as I'm concerned, the dead don't have rights, and that includes the right of consent. Fair play, no need for big gubment to get involved with what I do with my body and the dead body of my wife.

While this is true, don't most/all states in the US have laws dealing with non-consensual desecration of corpses (non-consensual referring to people who consent to donate their organs), making things like necrophilia illegal?

Like, I'm pretty sure opening a grave is illegal in America, even if it's not federal law (though oddly enough, as in most of the world, the older the grave is, the more acceptable it is to open it, which I find curious)

While this is true, don't most/all states in the US have laws dealing with non-consensual desecration of corpses (non-consensual referring to people who consent to donate their organs), making things like necrophilia illegal?

Like, I'm pretty sure opening a grave is illegal in America, even if it's not federal law (though oddly enough, as in most of the world, the older the grave is, the more acceptable it is to open it, which I find curious)

While this is true, don't most/all states in the US have laws dealing with non-consensual desecration of corpses (non-consensual referring to people who consent to donate their organs), making things like necrophilia illegal?

Like, I'm pretty sure opening a grave is illegal in America, even if it's not federal law (though oddly enough, as in most of the world, the older the grave is, the more acceptable it is to open it, which I find curious)

If we were to make a deal out of it, I would think the best way to deal with it would be to make the body property of the deceased. Making it so that if there is an issue, one would decide what to do with their body in their will, like any other possession.